


where the heart is

by orphan_account



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Single Parent AU, aka there's not enough grayza fics in the world and this au was a good idea at first, just tagging main characters right now but i might add them in as we go on, kid Kagura, past Jerza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3579810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gray shifts, uncomfortable under the stares of both mother and daughter. “Sorry, lady, but not everyone goes to bed at 8 like you do. Maybe you should’ve moved somewhere else.”</p><p>The woman’s face flushes lightly with anger. “If you do not turn off that trash you call music, I will report you to Mr. Dreyar and he’ll have you turn it off--”</p><p>“Honey, I’m in the middle of working right now, and frankly I don’t give a shit if you go tattle-tale to Gramps--”</p><p>It’s at that moment when the girl, who has said nothing up to this point, steps forward and promptly punches Gray in the groin.</p><p> </p><p>[ or: the grayza single parent au ]</p>
            </blockquote>





	where the heart is

The first time he sees her, it’s the afternoon before a recording session.

Gray’s walking out of his apartment as Makarov, his landlord, steps out from the apartment next door, talking animatedly to the red-haired woman who follows him. He doesn’t really register what Makarov is saying (he assumes it’s something about renting, what else would he be talking about) because he’s too busy watching the woman who’s with him--hey, he’s a bachelor in his late 20s, he can check a lady out.

She’s pretty, he registers first, even if her look is uptight with a pencil skirt and formal blouse. Even her hair is formal, pulled back into a bun at the back of her head. Gray wonders idly how long it is, because he’d like to see such fiery red hair loose.

The woman glances up, probably feeling Gray’s eyes on her, and they hold eye contact for a brief moment before Gray averts his gaze and Makarov notices he’s there.

“Ah! Gray!” The older man beams. “It’s nice to see you out and about. I want you to meet our newest tenant, Ms. Erza Scarlet. Ms. Scarlet, this is Gray Fullbuster, he’ll be your neighbor.”

The woman, Ms. Scarlet, smiles faintly and extends her hand. “A pleasure, Mr. Fullbuster.”

“Yeah, same.” Gray answers, grasping her hand after a moment.

“Gray’s a music agent! And from what my grandson tells me, a good one. I’m glad you two got to meet before you moved in, Ms. Scarlet, and I’m sure you’ll be able to rely on him if you need it.”

The woman is staring at him again, and Gray shifts uncomfortably under such an intense gaze; he’s used to being stared at (mostly by Juvia, but other women have as well), but it’s nothing compared to the look in Scarlet’s eyes. She looks as if she’s deciding on the best way to break his arm, or worse.

He isn’t going to be late by any means, but he’s uncomfortable enough to feel like making excuses. “Yeah--nice to meet you and all that. I have to run, Gramps, but I’ll see you around.” Gray waves once, before hurriedly turning and heading for the elevators. He swears he feels Scarlet’s eyes follow him around the corner.

 

It’s a short drive to the recording studio from the apartment building, and he’s happy to see he’s not the first to arrive. Loke is waiting for him outside, leaning against his sports car and doing something with his phone.

Leo Van der Beek, known more commonly in the industry as Loke, is one of Gray’s partners at his talent agency and has been his friend since Gray was still playing long gigs in cheap bars all over town. He may be a playboy, but nobody can scout out a good band or musician quite like Loke can, and Gray’s found him to be an invaluable asset to have in this business.

Loke glances up as Gray pulls up on his motorcycle, eyes glinting playfully behind his glasses. “You’re not gonna like today, my friend.”

Gray tugs off his helmet, swiping the back of his hand over his forehead to catch the sweat beaded there. “Huh? Why? Don’t tell me they’ve cancelled on us again.”

“Nah, Laxus’ll be here eventually, but it’s worse. Juvia’s here.”

Gray groaned, falling forward onto his bike as the ginger just laughed.

“She’s supposed to be recording on the opposite side of the studio, so maybe she won’t notice we’re here with Laxus and his crew.” Loke stands straight, waiting as Gray finally stands as well. “And don’t forget, we’re going out of town on Thursday to hear that hot new prospect Cana told us about. She’s been trying to set up this meeting for a while, and she says he’ll be a big name soon.”

Cana is the other partner at their talent agency, and probably the toughest one out of all three of them. It’s still a bit surprising that she’s actually working with them instead of trying to get them to go bankrupt, since she used to hate Loke (technically she still does), but Gray’s been friends with her since college so that must have something to do with it.

Gray sighs, swinging his leg over his bike to stand. “Yeah, yeah. It’s on the calendar. Let’s just get inside and worry about how much time we’ll have to record with Laxus today.”

Thankfully, it’s not very long. About ten minutes later, Laxus and his band appear outside the studio, ready to get on with things.

“Yo.” The blonde says as he barges into the recording booth, eyes shaded by his sunglasses and grinning like a wolf. “Sorry for the hold up, pretty boy had to put his makeup on.”

He’s talking about Freed, his bassist, who huffs and mutters something about him being an idiot. Bixlow, the dummer, bursts out laughing and Laxus soon joins him.

“Alright, boys, settle down,” Gray starts, holding up his hands. “We have a lot of things to get down today, so let’s get to it and try to get this thing knocked out tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure thing, boss.” The blonde says, saluting him and then he gets himself busy--the sound of guitars being tuned, drums being positioned and tested, fills the sound booth, and Gray sits back in his chair.

“Well, looks like Juvia’s gone.” Comes from the doorway, and Gray peers up to see Loke trailing in, two cans of soda in his hands. “And may not have even seen your bike, so that’s a good thing.”

“Knock on wood, Loke, don’t jinx things for me.” Gray mutters, taking a soda and popping the cap. He knows better than to think Juvia didn’t notice anything--and it’s confirmed by the phone buzzing in his pocket. He’ll let her leave a voicemail, like he always does, and sinks deeper into his chair to wait for Laxus to be ready.

“Anyway, aside from all that--Juvia mess. How’s the apartment? I still need to see it.” The dark-haired male shoots him a questioning look, but Loke ignores it. He’s always been pretty chatty. “You’ve been there--what, four months now?”

“Six. And I finally have someone in the apartment next door.”

“Oh?” Loke repositions himself, the corner of his lips tugging up in a smirk. “Tell me, is she hot?”

Gray gives him a look, but can’t quite keep his cheeks from flushing. “Why do you think it’s a woman?”

“No reason. I have a fifty-fifty chance of being right--and I know it’s a hot chick because of what you look like right now.” Loke smacks Gray’s shoulder lightly. “Damn, she must be fine.”

“More like she wanted to rip my arm off.” He answers into his soda can. “And look, she’s just moving in, I don’t want to be that guy.”

Loke hummed in thought, watching as the final touches seemed to be going on in the recording booth. “Okay, so maybe you don’t want to hit on her right off the bat. Shouldn’t stop you from doing it eventually, though.”

Gray frowned more. “Why are you so obsessed with women, anyways? Butt outta my love life, jackass.”

Loke didn’t exactly have a chance to answer, but sent Gray a giant grin, making it clear he wasn’t going to any such thing.

 

 

 

“Mother!”

Erza’s hardly through the door when she hears feet running down the hallway and a black-haired little girl rushes at her full-speed. The red-head smiles softly, kneeling down just in time to envelop her daughter in her arms.

“Hi, sweetheart. Sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”

“It’s alright, Mother, I don’t mind.” The girl pulls back, and Erza can’t help but smiling more, brushing back her hair softly. “Aunt Lucy said you found where we will be moving.”

“I have, Kagura! And it’s a very nice place, I’m sure you’ll like it.” Erza stands, balancing Kagura on her hip, and heading further inside. “Speaking of your aunt, where is Lucy?”

The girl doesn’t do much other than point to the doorway she appeared from, and now that she’s paying attention, Erza can hear the sounds of a sink running and pots clanging together--sounds like dinner is being made by the whole family. With a hum, she repositions Kagura on her hip and heads for the noise.

It’s chaos in the Dragneel kitchen, between Lucy and Natsu trying to cook around each other and their daughter Wendy trying to shoo the cat out of the way so he doesn’t get squished. The kitchen itself has seen better days, but Erza’s been in it for so long that she doesn’t want it to change one bit.

Natsu’s the one who notices her first, hands full with a cookie sheet he’s pulling out of the oven--he blinks, then beams, and exclaims, “Erza!”

All the noise in the kitchen stops after a moment, and Lucy and Wendy both turning to see the new arrival--then, all of a sudden, there’s a chorus of “Erza!” and “Auntie!” filling the air and Erza’s being swept up into her friend’s arms.

“Sorry for being late, my meeting with Mirajane went longer than i thought it would.” Erza says as Lucy pulls away--the blonde scoffs and waves a hand.

“Don’t worry about it! Wendy and Kagura had lots of fun, didn’t you girls?”

“We did, Mommy!” Wendy pipes up, trotting over with the cat, Happy, in her arms. “We did, we did, we did! Auntie Erza, guess what! Mommy and Daddy took me and Kagura and the daycare kids to the zoo!”

A gasp as Erza sets Kagura down. “Really? Oh, that sounds like a wonderful day indeed.”

“Yeah, except for the part where we nearly lost one of the kids.” Natsu pipes up, finally coming over to greet Erza properly. He kisses her cheek lightly, which she returns, and throws an arm around her shoulder. “How’d the apartment thing go?”

“Oh yeah! You said on the phone that you got it, right?” Lucy says, clapping her hands excitedly. By now, the two little girls have retreated to the kitchen table, Wendy chattering away as Kagura follows her silently.

Erza nods. “I did. I finalized everything with Mr. Dreyar before going to meet Mira.”

Natsu’s grip tightens a little, protective as always. “Good, I’m glad.”

Natsu is Erza’s oldest friend--they’d known each other since elementary school, and had basically grown up together. He’s always been rather protective of her, often acting as if he were her brother and not just a friend from down the street; while he knows she can damn well take care of herself, Natsu is more than ready to crack a few skulls for her sake. Despite his sometimes crazy antics, Erza knows that whatever happens, she can rely on Natsu to help her stay afloat (which is something she really needs right now, not that she’d say that too often). Lucy, his wife, met Erza in high school, and the two hit it off right away; when not caring for their adopted daughter, or busy running the daycare she and Natsu own, Lucy is busy at her computer, working on the novel she hopes will help her break into the bestseller list.

Erza adores them both.

“Well, that will have to be on the backburner for just a minute--dinner’s almost ready.” Lucy says, tugging on Natsu’s hand gently. “Erza, get the girls to wash their hands?”

She smiles gently and nods. “Sure thing.”

 

Dinner doesn’t take very long to eat, surprisingly, but it’s good--Natsu’s always been a surprisingly good cook despite having horrendous table manners for most of his life, and he has yet to disappoint. Once everything is cleaned up and in the sink, the girls are wound up again and run off to Wendy’s room to play.

“So.” Lucy says, leaning forward and settling her chin on her hands. “How’d it go with Mira?”

Erza shrugs, expression clouding over. “It was mostly the same as usual--fight over who gets what, how much money do I get, does he get…”

“God, he’s such an asshole.” Natsu grumbles under his breath. When the women turn to him, he flushes. “What? He is! You wouldn’t be divorcing him otherwise. This whole thing is stupid, and it’s bad for Kagura. She’s been more quiet than usual.”

It’s true--while little Kagura does take after her mother’s mostly stoic ways, she’s never been quite as silent as she is now. Erza knew a divorce would be hard on her going into it, but she had very few options.

“I’ve tried telling Jellal that, tried telling that attorney of his, Ms. Orlando--he doesn’t seem to care.” Erza spits bitterly, crossing her arms. “And that’s not the worst of it. Mira said he’s thinking of fighting for custody.”

The room is silent for several long moments, tension clearly building between her friends.

“I’m gonna slit his throat if he tries to take Kagura away from you.” Natsu says, voice low and dangerous--Erza’s seen him this livid before, and it’s not pretty. “I’m serious, Erza, if he does one thing to hurt her even more--hurt you any more--”

“I doubt any judge would grant him that anyway.” Lucy says, voice somewhat calmer but still angry. “You’ve got a stable job. And you’re her mother. A judge won’t separate a child and her mother unless it’s clear she shouldn’t be staying with you--which is bullshit, you’re the best thing she’s got.”

“Which is basically what Mira said.” Erza agrees, sighing. “She said we’re going to have to wait it out, but it should all be over soon. Negotiations are almost through. Plus, we have an apartment now, so at least we have a more stable place to stay. It’s--a start, at least.”

Natsu and Lucy don’t say anything for a long moment, both clearly trying to control their emotions--were Wendy and Kagura not in the next room over, they’d probably be swearing like sailors, the both of them. As it is, they stay quiet.

“Well, at least you have an apartment.”

“Move-in is supposed to be within the next two weeks, the landlord said. Would you be able to--”

“Of course we would.” Lucy says, smiling warmly and taking Erza’s hand.

Natsu stretches, Happy the cat jumping up into his lap as he’s doing so. “You should get that good-for-nothing boyfriend of Levy’s to come help, too--”

“Natsu, Gajeel isn’t good-for-nothing--”

“--because he’s a pretty strong guy, he could help me carry the heavier stuff.” Natsu yawns, rubbing his stomach. “So...next two weeks?”

“Yep.” Erza squeezes Lucy’s hand gently, a little distantly. She’s ready to sleep, if she’s honest, but she and Kagura still have to go back to the hotel they’ve been staying at temporarily and she’s got divorce paperwork to go over.

They don’t stay much longer, other than to make plans for the move on Saturday. Kagura is quiet as Erza lifts her and takes her to the car to go back to the hotel--the drive is quiet, not that Erza mind it all that much, and once they’re parked, she turns to see her daughter asleep in her car seat.

Erza sighs, relaxing into the driver’s seat and watching Kagura through the rearview mirror.

“It’s a start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the start of this and I'm excited to keep writing it. The bug kind of hit me ages ago to write some Grayza, I just haven't ever had luck with what I wanted to write before this. Anyway, hopefully I'll have more written soon/within the next couple of weeks!


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